Paper - 15 Mass Communication and Meia Studies

What is Journalism ?Types and Role of journalist

What is journalism?

Journalism refers to the news or feature stories (light, entertainment stories) that are expressed either in a descriptive way or concise pattern through different types of media. A journalist reports news, which can be through print, television, radio, or even the Internet. The main purpose of a journalist is to report news with accurate facts in an unbiased manner. Over the decades, several types of journalism have developed that have given different dimensions to the field of mass media. One method of classification is on the basis of their specialization (beat), method of gathering information, and writing/reporting style.

Journalism is the investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience for different purpose. Journalism’s role at the time was to act as a mediator or translator between the public and policy making elites. The journalist became the middleman. When elites spoke, journalists listened and recorded the information, distilled it, and passed it on to the public for their consumption.
Journalists have many roles to play commonly as; watchdogs, investigators, moderators, entertainers, analysts, informers, editors, commentators, and advertisers. They are community activists, agenda-setters, and voices for the voiceless. They are public servants, keepers of public record, protectors of democracy, and promoters of public dialogue. Thanks to these responsibilities media is playing, it has earned the recognition of fourth estate.

Role of journalist 

The importance of journalism comes from the people’s right to opinion and expression. Since right to opinion and expression would not be a reality without the press. People today depend greatly on the press for being informed. Journalism is taken as inseparable part of any democratic system. The Press plays a vital role in democratic society. It is an institution in its own right. The Press has earned the recognition of ‘Fourth state’. Journalism is the ‘voice of the voiceless’ and it plays the role of ‘watch-dog’ in our society. It is strong bridge between concerning authorities and the people. It handles all public issues. In fact, press is the people’s open forum. Press makes such an environment where people get information and be prepared to take part in democracy. People’s participation is the foundation of democracy. Press is the pillar of democracy.

Similarly, the main principles of journalism are; Accuracy, Balance and Credibility. One of the important responsibilities of journalist is to maintain their principles in their reporting. The information should be based on truth and facts which provides accurate news. Apart from that, journalist is responsible for giving space to every one without biasness. While reporting one should be balance. If we compare the same news from two or three different newspapers, we find distinction in terms of how much one reporter is leaned towards certain groups or political parties. In the other hand, citizens/ audiences should have some sort of faith over media. Without credible information, there would be no trust PRESS and could have no strength. Thus maintaining accuracy and balance provides credible information.

The general field of journalism has become specialized with various types of writing, depending on the audience and motives of the writers. Distinctions are also made to separate various journalism genres as categories of writing. Some types include

On the Basis of Beats

News journalism:

 Here, the primary aim of the journalist is to report news in a straight-forward manner that covers all the required facts. The style is direct with focus on the gist of the story with other necessary points. The news style should be concise and precise. The facts must be crosschecked which makes the news item as authentic as possible without any media bias. Here, the news story can be for the print media, television, radio, etc. Such news pieces often cover politics and social movements. News stories based on political suppression, public movements or abuse of human rights have proved instrumental in effecting many a social change, or giving voice to the oppressed. Similarly, cultural events are also covered in news journalism 

Lifestyle Journalism

The world is evolving and people are interested in reading more about lifestyle. This beat has been on a fast-track growth focusing on entertainment, music, leisure, shopping, home, gardening, and so on. Lifestyle journalists study the stages of development of lifestyle, economic influences on society, fashion, and trends. They provide readers with tips that can help in changing their lifestyle with time.

On the Basis of News Gathering

Ambush Journalism

This is one of the techniques followed by journalists to collect news. It is actually a military tactic used to make a surprise attack in the same way as it is used to confront people so as to get answers. We come across this method more often on television, in a news show, or interviews where answers on sensitive topics are pulled out from people, who generally avoid speaking to journalists.

Citizen journalism:

 Here, it is not the professional journalists who are responsible for the news reports. Any citizen can participate and report news to the media. He/she collects and reports news to the media and participates voluntarily to offer help to the media. They bring to notice issues that may have been missed by media houses

Investigative journalism:

This type of journalism is about unearthing facts and studying cases that may require more efforts, which can take months or even years. Journalists who specialize in investigative journalism create headlines with news that expose scandals. Sometimes, persistent follow-up of a story proves beneficial to uncover some hitherto unsolved cases. This would require in-depth research from the journalist along with evidence.

On the Basis of Writing Styles

Advocacy journalism

 Writing to advocate particular viewpoints or influence the opinions of the audience. Under this branch, journalists are openly biased towards a particular entity while reporting events or happenings. The information they convey is mostly one-sided and tends to defend the specific entity. Most advocacy journalists believe that in their profession, one is very likely to become partial. As a constant follower of any story, it is difficult to stay detached. You eventually will develop an opinion! So, instead of     trying to be indifferent, one might as well report from his point of view

Tabloid journalism

 Writing which uses opinionated or wild claims. This type is a hit with some unreliable newspapers and websites even today! In this style, the journalist tries to sensationalize a particular piece of news by molding the story itself. Also famous by the name 'yellow journalism', such form of news is highly exaggerated and mostly unreliable. A good example of this is when celebrity controversies are hyped and publicized on a big scale to grab eyeballs.